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.180 Andrew AshlingHe looked defiantly at his mother.Corvina burst into laughter. All right, I see that I am overruled by male stubbornness.She tousled her son s hair.Morry pulled a face as if he was beingtortured. Mo-om, he complained whiningly. I agree with Anack, darling.It was very brave of you.Stupid, butbrave.I m just glad Anack was there. Do you know any stories, Anack? Morry asked. I m bored. Let me think& I know some.With witches in them. Do they die at the end? Oh, yes.Very painfully. Nice. Morry shivered in anticipation. If you re going to tell horrible stories, I m gone, Corvina saidgood-naturedly. Dinner isn t going to prepare itself. And she was never heard of again.But deep in the forest is aclearing where nothing grows.Not even grass or moss.No animalever comes near it, and birds that fly over it fall as a stone out of theair.Dead.People say that is where the knight buried her after killingher.But nobody knows for sure, and the knight, well, he went to a faroff country without saying anything to anybody. Close your mouth, Morry.Nobody wants to see the content ofyour stomach.And as for you: if he wakes screaming this night, you llhave to answer to me for it.Corvina smiled, which as good as negated her stern tone. I m sorry, Anaxantis said,  I got caught up in the story.Mymother used to tell it to me when I was his age.Bonds of Fear 181 Don t worry about it, Corvina said. In fact, I wish he had anolder brother like you.She showed a wooden comb. Your hair is almost dry.I ll comb it before it sets like that.Youpositively look like a Munakhata  Mukthar.Morry jeered and pointed at his mother. Don t mock your mother.You can t pronounce it either.And you,sit still.I can t help it that it hurts a bit now and again.Your hair is fartoo long for a boy.At that moment the door opened, and a man in his early thirtiesentered.He looked at the little group by the fire, became whiter thanthe sheet Anaxantis had draped around himself, and took off his cap. Hush, woman, keep your trap shut.Don t you know& I m sorry,my lord, she s but a silly woman and she doesn t know who you are.She doesn t mean anything by it. Who are you calling a silly woman, Morrthoc, and it d better notbe me or it will be a long time before& well, you know.And who areyou calling my Anaxantis looked shyly up to her, the comb stuck in his hair. No, Corvina said,  you can t be, can you? I m afraid so, Anaxantis said. I m sorry.I didn t mean to deceiveyou, but I was having a good time, and I didn t want to disappointMorry.He seems to think I am some giant.Morrthoc had left the door open and Hemarchidas enteredthrough it. Before you start complaining: this is all I could find and you ll182 Andrew Ashlingwear it, damn it.Or you can return home in your bare ass.The choiceis yours.Corvina and Morrthoc stared at Hemarchidas, stupefied.Morrylooked pensively at Anaxantis. Are you really, Anack? Are you the warlord? I m afraid so, Morry.You see, no giant, no enormous sword, andno gigantic horse, I m afraid. But how will you protect us from the Mukna  Mukthars.By being smarter than them.There s also the armywe are training.He smiled at Morrthoc, who had cringed all the while his son wastalking so impertinently to the Lord Governor.When he exited the bedroom, dressed in his formal yellow tunicwith the dragon crest, Morry looked at him, still only half believingwhat he saw.Hemarchidas and Corvina had explained to Morrthochow the warlord of Amiratha came to be in his little farm, dressed inone of his bedsheets.Morry tugged at Anaxantis s tunic. Morry, don t touch his highness.Haven t you caused enoughtrouble for one day? Forgive him, my lord, he s a good boy and hedoesn t  It s all right dad, Morry said,  Anack is my friend. He looked upat Anaxantis. You re really sure you can stop the Mu them?Anaxantis winked at him. You never can be sure, can you? But I promise you I will try ashard as I can.And I got you out of the water, didn t I, my friend?Bonds of Fear 183Morry frowned and thought for a moment.Then his face lit up. Yes.Yes, you did.184 Andrew AshlingBy eleven in the evening Lorcko knew he wasn t going to get muchsleep that night, so he decided to not even try.Instead he went backto the beach, although it was pitch dark by now.The moonlight madethe already wondrous place almost seem magical.It was cold, and hewrapped his mantle closer to his body, keeping his hands beneath it. What is happening? By all reckoning Ambrick should alreadyhave fallen for me as a rock.I m sure I gave him the right signals.I msure he knew that he only had to ask [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]